Philippine Culture

CULTURE
Set of shared attitudes, values, goals,
and practices that characterizes an
institution or organization

ETYMOLOGY
The etymology of the modern term "culture" has a classical origin. In English, the word
"culture" is based on a term used by Cicero in his Tusculan Disputations, where he wrote
of a cultivation of the soul or "cultura animi", thereby using an agricultural metaphor to
describe the development of a philosophical soul, which was understood teleologically as
the one natural highest possible ideal for human development. Samuel Pufendorf took
over this metaphor in a modern context, meaning something similar, but no longer
assuming that philosophy is man's natural perfection. His use, and that of many writers
after him "refers to all the ways in which human beings overcome their original
barbarism, and through artifice, become fully human".[4]
As described by Velkley:[4]
The term "culture," which originally meant the cultivation of the soul or mind, acquires most
of its later modern meanings in the writings of the 18th-century German thinkers, who
on various levels developing Rousseau's criticism of modern liberalism and Enlightenment.
Thus a contrast between "culture" and "civilization" is usually implied in these authors,
even when not expressed as such. Two primary meanings of culture emerge from this
period: culture as the folk-spirit having a unique identity, and culture as cultivation of
inwardness or free individuality. The first meaning is predominant in our current use of
the term "culture," although the second still plays a large role in what we think culture
should achieve, namely the full "expression" of the unique of "authentic" self.

COMPONENTS OF CULTURE
Culture varies from one another and it shares four major
components, these are the
communication, cognitive, material and
.behavioral aspects
Communication components include language and symbols.
Through having a language, a group of people interact with
one another, socially sharing their thoughts, feelings or ideas
.to the people with same language
Language forms the core of all cultures throughout society.
The symbols are considered as the backbone of symbolic
interactions. A symbol might be considered as anything that
holds a particular meaning and are recognized by the people
that share the same culture. Different cultures have different
symbols, it is cross-culturally and it might be change over a
.period of time

Cognitive component - It includes Ideas, Knowledge and
.Belief, Values and Accounts
Ideas, Knowledge and Belief are basic units of knowledge
construction. Ideas are considered as mental representation and are used
to organize stimulus. When Ideas are link together it will organize into
.larger systems of information which will become knowledge
Knowledge now is considered as storage of information fact or assumption,
and these knowledge can be passed down from one generation to
.another
Belief on the other hand assumes that propositions, statement, description of
fact are true in nature. These acceptance were influenced by the external
authorities such as government, religion, or science rather than proven
.true from the individual's direct experiences
Values serve as guidelines for social living. Culturally, it can be defined as the
.standards of desirability, goodness and beauty
Accounts are considered to be a way on how people use the language for their
explanation, justification, or to rationalize, excuse, or legitimize a behavior
.towards themselves or to the others

Behavioral components -Behavioral component is the major component
of culture that is concerned about on how we act. It includes norms which
.further categorizes in Mores, Laws, Folkway, and Rituals
Norms are considered as rules and expectations eventually set by a particular
society that serves as guides to the behavior of its members. It varies in
the terms of the degrees of importance and might be change over a period
of time. It is reinforced by sanctions in the forms or rewards and
punishments. These are standards accepted by society culturally and serve
as obligatory and expected behaviors of the people in different situations
.in life
Mores are kinds of norms that are considered to be as a customary behavior
.patterns which have taken from a moralistic value
Laws serve as the formal and important norms that translated into legal
formalizations. Folkways are considered as behavioral patterns of a
particular society that is repetitive and organize. Rituals on the other hand
are those highly scripted ceremonies of interactions which follows a
.sequence of actions. Examples are baptism, holidays and more

Material component -This includes
materials or objects created by humans
for practical use or for artistic reasons.
These objects are called as “material
culture”. Material components serve as an
.expression of an individual culture

CHARACTERISTICS
.It is shared
The culture is shared by the social interaction may take in many forms to transmit the
beliefs, values and expectation of the human society. The exchange of social ideas may
.provide understanding and learning the human culture and tradition
.It is a group product
The group product is the by-product of culture is shared by the social activities of the
society. The group products provide important knowledge and experiences about the
.racial and ethnic activities
It is the result of life long social experience made by those living in certain communities that
governed by the family of elders. They formed tribe with their own cultures and
traditions that have been dependent in hunting, fishing, and agriculture. The culture and
tradition are passed on to the succeeding generation by educating the children from all
.the social life activities of the tribe
.It is learned
The cultural transmission or enculturation is the best way to describe culture is learned. The
people acquire information about the culture by many ways. This is done by learning the
.language and other form of educational information of the society

.It is Symbolic
The communication process uses symbols to identify the given
.actions, attitudes and behaviors of the people
a) The use of language has varied types of symbols depending on its
natural environment, exposure and education to groups or tribes,
.the social experience and influence
b) The social experiences as a whole provides specific communicative
symbols along arts, music, literature, history and other forms of
.societal actions
c) The abstract knowledge is reinforce in the way they understand
and learn the feelings, ideas and behaviors of certain group of
.people in the society
Culture is adaptive
The cultural adaptation is the evolutionary process that modifies the
.social life of the people in the given natural environment

.Culture is compulsory
The human beings always consider the harmonious relationship with any of group cultures
.being grown for a period of time
The group members of the conformed with the ways of living within the bounds of beliefs, . 1
.expectation, and norms
The behavioral conformity is expected to follow any violations within the norms have . 2
specific sanctions as to the provisions of law or even a given set of norms in the social
.context
The social interaction of man follows the collective activities with common goals including . 3
specific norms, traditions, and beliefs which is followed as a blue print of its distinct
.cultural existence in the society
.Culture is cumulative
The cumulative culture may be passed from one generation to the next generation. Those
pertinent knowledge and culture are gradually built as it is useful to the society.
.However, the information that is no longer useful to the society may gradually phase out
.Culture is dynamic
There is continuous change of culture as new ways of life evolved by the changing conditions
.of the societal life. There are cultural practices that no longer useful today
.Culture is diverse
The culture is different from each other as we must consider the social experiences,
.traditions, norms, mores and other cultural ways in the community